Qatar Statistics Authority releases the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for October 2012

A comparison of CPI, October, 2012 with the previous month index (CPI of September, 2012) by major groups, displays increases ranging between 0.4% and 4.5% in most of the major groups with the exceptions of "Food, Beverages & Tobacco", "Furniture, Textiles & Home Appliances" and "Transport & Communications" where prices declined by 0.8%. The highest increases have been noticed in the group "Entertainment, Recreation and Culture", 4.5% due to the rise of education services, followed by "Garments & Footwear", 0.9%, and "Rent, Fuel & Energy" and "Medical care & Medical services", 0.7%, finally, "Miscellaneous goods & services", 0.4%.

A year-on-year comparison, comparing the CPI of October 2012 with that of October 2011, showed increases of 2.7% at the overall level. Increases were recorded in all the major groups. The highest increases were recorded in the groups: "Entertainment, recreation and culture", 5.7%, while the other components such "Miscellaneous goods and services", increased by 4.3%, "Food, Beverages & Tobacco", 4.1%, "Furniture, Textiles and Home Appliances", 3.1% "Garments & Footwear", 3.0%, "Transport & Communications", 1.5%, and "Medical care & Medical services", 1.0%.

A CPI exclusive of the "Rent, Fuel and Energy" group has also been calculated. After eliminating the effect of rent, the overall index reached 125, showing an increase of 0.3% compared to the CPI of September 2012, and an increase of 3.3% when compared to the month of October 2011.